Organo-toxins are used in a variety of industrial and agricultural procedures and usually come to be present in water sources. These may be industrial effluents or agricultural drainage run-off. Examples of these uses of organo-toxins are
i) in raw-wool scouring where organo-chlorines and organo-phosphates act as pesticides and herbicides. These include sheep-dip pesticides, which are deliberately applied to the fleece, and agricultural pesticides which are picked up by the fleece when contacting treated vegetation, PA1 ii) insect resist agents, i.e. mothproofers. These pesticides have some substantivity for textile fibres and have biocidal action against household moth larvae, PA1 iii) absorbable organo-halogens are produced during shrink-resist treatment of wool, when the wool is treated with chlorine, and comprise highly chlorinated protein fragments, PA1 M is any 1+ or 2+ cation or combination thereof PA1 N is any 3+ or 4+ cation or combination thereof PA1 k is the sum of the individual mole fractions of the 1+ cations PA1 m is the sum of the individual mole fractions of the 2+ cations PA1 n is the sum of the individual mole fractions of the 3+ cations PA1 p is the sum of the individual mole fractions of the 4+ cations where either but not both of k and m or n and p can be zero and k+m+n+p=1. PA1 A.sub.z.sup.y- is any anion of charge y- and mole fraction z, or combination of anions of similar or differing y- and K+2m+3n+4p-2-zy=0 and x can range from 1 to 100. PA1 Zn.sub.16 Al.sub.2 (OH).sub.36 (Cl.sub.2)xH.sub.2 O PA1 Mg.sub.6 Al.sub.2 (OH).sub.16 (NO.sub.3).sub.2 xH.sub.2 O PA1 Cu.sub.16 Al.sub.2 (OH).sub.36 (Cl.sub.2)xH.sub.2 O PA1 M.sub.k+m N.sub.n+p (OH).sub.2 A.sub.z.sup.y- x.H.sub.2 O PA1 M is any 1+ or 2+ cation or combination thereof PA1 N is any 3+ or 4+ cation or combination thereof PA1 k is the sum of the individual mole fractions of the 1+ cations PA1 m is the sum of the individual mole fractions of the 2+ cations PA1 n is the sum of the individual mole fractions of the 3+ cations PA1 p is the sum of the individual mole fractions of the 4+ cations where either but not both of k and m or n and p can be zero and k+m+n+p=1. PA1 A.sub.z.sup.y- is any anion of charge y- and mole fraction z, or combination of anions of similar or differing y- and K+2m+3n+4p-2-zy=0 and x can range from 1 to 100. PA1 M.sub.k+m N.sub.n+p (OH).sub.2 A.sub.z.sup.y- x.H.sub.2 O PA1 M is any 1+ or 2+ cation or combination thereof PA1 N is any 3+ or 4+ cation or combination thereof PA1 k is the sum of the individual mole fractions of the 1+ cations PA1 m is the sum of the individual mole fractions of the 2+ cations PA1 n is the sum of the individual mole fractions of the 3+ cations PA1 p is the sum of the individual mole fractions of the 4+ cations where either but not both of k and m or n and p can be zero and k+m+n+p=1. PA1 A.sub.z.sup.- is any anion of charge y- and mole fraction z, or combination of anions of similar or differing y- and K+2m+3n+4p-2-zy=0 and x can range from 1 to 100. PA1 1. A 1 mol dm.sup.-3 solution of an 8:1 molar ration of zinc chloride and aluminium chloride was prepared. To this a 2 mol dm.sup.-3 solution of sodium hydroxide was added until the original pH of the chloride solution had been increased from around 3 to pH 6.75. This resulted in the formation of a white gel-like precipitate which was separated by centrifuging. The precipitate was then washed by suspension in demineralised water followed by centrifuging. This washing process was repeated several times. The gel was then dried at 80.degree. C. to 100.degree. C. and ground to a fine powder. PA1 2. A 1 mol dm.sup.-3 solution of an 8:1 molar ratio of zinc chloride and aluminium chloride was prepared and simultaneously pumped into a 5 liter beaker, fitted with a stirrer, along with a 5 mol dm.sup.-3 solution of sodium hydroxide. The rate of addition of sodium hydroxide was varied to maintain a pH of 6.5 in the reaction mixture. The resulting gel was separated and washed as described above. Particles of the washed precipitate were then dried in different ways: PA1 (i) a sample was resuspended in water to give a 10% solids slurry; PA1 (ii) a sample was spray dried; and PA1 (iii) a sample was oven dried at approximately 120.degree. C. and micronised using a fluid energy mill.
There is thus a clear need for means of removing these organo-toxins from water.